Philips CDR 778 Compact Disc Recorder.

Manufacturer: Philips Consumer Electronics Co., 64 Perimeter Center East, Atlanta, GA 31146; 800/ 531-0039; www.phllipsusa.com. Price: $399 Source: Reviewer purchase

A while ago I got it into my head that I wanted--nay, needed--the capability to make recordings on CDs. I'd recorded rented (courtesy of Leo's Taping Club in Berkeley--later litigated into oblivion by our friends at the RIAA) LPs on to cassette tapes heavily as a twentysomething and had managed, despite a meager budget, to amass a hefty collection of music, which 25 years later was crumbling, oxidizing, and staging a delayed revolt against the time impact of Dolby noise reduction. Now, these days we've easily 10 times as many CDs as LPs--and the LPs outnumbered the cassette tapes from the git go. If you have a decent or better vinyl playback capacity and much of what you had on tape has been reissued on CD, there are still a few good reasons to want to be able to record your own CDs: archiving some aging vinyl; snaking compilation discs; and putting a rare LP on CD to play on the road. And just maybe, after making the necessary tone control adjustments for the degradation of the tape, I could rescue a lot of the cassette recordings before they became unusable. Besides ... heh, heh ... don' cha just love fiddling with technology?

G-g-g-gear Ch-ch-ch-changes. Putting the want/need to "record CDs" into motion, however, required snore than a bit of maneuvering, in fact the introduction of new and modified equipment into the reference rig was so extensive that it makes more sense to review each component individually rather than bury them inside another review. Further, each component has a dedicated use that will serve any audiophile quite well and therefore individual reviews are in order. They appear elsewhere in this or subsequent issues.

First, my Audio by Van Alstine Omega III EC preamplifier (initially reviewed by KMD in No. 57--so very long ago) lacked tape buffers, something AVA had strenuously suggested at the time I purchased it, which I had sensibly declined, "What with CDs I'll never go back to tapes ..." Back it had to go. While in AVA's capable hands, I opted to have it upgraded to AVA's new OmegaStar EC version with the new tape buffers among its generous panoply of goodies. Second, while the AVA preamp was in the shop, my backup preamp, the Adcom GTP-350, lacked a phono section. After phoning around town, I found the Rotel RQ-970BX phono equalizer, which proved a worthy addition and at $199 an apparently sensible acquisition. This was of course before I knew about the Sumiko Pro-Ject Phono Box or the Parasound PPH-100, both of which retail for $120. Sigh.

Third, my vinyl collection is pretty old, but I've prided myself over the years of taking better than normal care of it--not fastidiously germ-fee, mind you, but I've never played a dirty record. Before every play I'd cleaned each LP with Discwasher D4 cleaning fluid and Discwasher's cleaning brush. But after TL snickered, "Oh, so you grind it [the dust] in", I knew that committing vinyl to a CD, especially with an upgraded cartridge--and aside from upgrading the vinyl front end in general, that I needed some serious cleaning capability. Enter the VPI HW-16.5 record cleaning machine, a truly awesome contraption with the ability to suck up long-buried grime.

Next, as I'd promised many moons ago (Issue No. 74), the Rotel RP-955 turntable required a better cartridge than either the Audio Technica AT 110E that it came with or the Shure M97xE that I'd reviewed in No. 86. Hence, we'll provide an update to the Shure V15 Type VxMR cartridge, first reviewed by KAL and SGB in No. 67. Finally, there's the CD recorder itself. After poring over oodles of specs and consulting with TK, I decided on the Philips CDR 778. It's a pretty simple machine that can be enormously complex, but we'll get to that. Besides, Philips invented the CD and CD player, and pedigree counts for something, right?

The Big Rig. The references have changed only subtly over time. The amplifier is an original Sunfire. The preamplifier is the newly upgraded AVA OmegaStar EC. The CD players are the newly repaired Parasound C/DP 1000 and the Integra DX-C606 carousel changer. Analog is jointly handled by a vintage (ca. 1979-80) Technics SL-Q3 turntable and arm equipped with an equally vintage Shure M95ED cartridge, which sports a new stylus, and the Rotel RP-955 "table and arm on which is mounted the Shure V15 Type VxMR cartridge. Interconnects include AudioQuest Ruby, Kimber PBJ, a bunch of Radio Shack gold plated jobbers, Monster Cable, and some manufacturers' inclusives. Speaker wire is Kimber 4VS. Everything's plugged into an Adcom ACE-515 power conditioner, which in turn is plugged into a dedicated power outlet equipped with industrial-grade receptacles.

Essentials. The Philips CDR 778 is a dual-well laser recording device. The left well is the recorder; the right well is a garden variety CD player which also feeds the recorder directly for digital CD-to-CDR recording. It measures 17.1" x 12.2" x 3.5" and weighs 9.92 lbs. The construction is a standard "mid-fi" steel shell with a plastic front panel. The panel is logically arrayed with an LCD information display dividing the two wells and the controls with the master power button in the extreme lower left. Depending on whether you're recording or simply playing, the information display has two buttons: press the "CDR" button, and the window displays the status of the recorder; press the "CD" button, and the window displays the status of the CD player. Each well has the requisite open drawer, stop, play, and pause controls. The left side also includes buttons for selecting the type of recording (internal or external source), designating the external source, erasing a disc or track, and finalizing the recorded disc for play on conventional CD players. The right side has forward/backward search buttons, a menu access and storage button (mostly for managing the internal memory and inserting text), a cancel/ delete button for navigating the menu and performing discreet deletions in different modes, and the "Easy Jog" push/rotary control.

The "Easy Jog" control can be rotated in both directions to access tracks (there are no "skip track" buttons), make menu selections, and set the recording level. When pushed, the "Easy Jog" control plays programmed tracks, makes other menu selections, program track numbers, and undoes a finalized disc. Finally, hidden behind a drop down panel below the display window, is the remote sensor, a headphone jack, a "DJ Mode" control for using the deck for dual playback, repeat and shuffle/random functions, a scroll button for scanning text, another display panel control, and a button for opening and closing program memory. While the usual CD play/ pause/stop/search buttons are fairly sized square affairs, the balance of the buttons--with the exception of the "Easy Jog" control--are fairly small, and the ones behind the drop-down panel are downright dinky. As we'll see, they work very well, but you have to pay attention to what you're doing. If you press the wrong button at the wrong time, a longish recording session will produce a cocktail coaster. Labeling of non-recording functions is white-on-black and, while also relatively small, distinct. Recording functions are labeled in red-on-black and are more difficult to see easily. However, since there are only two of the latter and their place on the panel is unique, once you're used to them they don't present any special problem.

The rear panel features a power cord receptacle, analog and coaxial digital "out" connections for the right well CD player (required only for "DJ Mode"), analog and coaxial digital "in/out" recording loops, and a Toslink optical digital "in" for recording directly from an external digital source with optical output. Similarly, the coaxial digital "in" can be connected to an external digital source. Of course the analog "in/out" require preamplifier interface.

The remote control replicates playback functions plus scroll, shuffle, repeat, the display choices, menu access, cancel/delete, and programming. It also includes two important functions not on the front panel. The red power button toggles between full power and stand-by modes, so once you've powered up the unit, you don't have to turn it completely off. The "Track Incr[ement]" button allows you to manually insert track numbers during recording. This is important because while recording LPs and cassette tapes, the CD recorder will treat a side as one long track. If you want each song/increment separately numbered, you need to literally sit there and press the "Track Incr" button at the conclusion of a selection and before the next commences. The CD recorder automatically inserts track numbers, if present, from a digital source. However, if you're making a compilation disc, every time you pause the recorder to cue up the next input, the CD recorder automatically inserts a new track number.

The CDR 778 allows you to enter text on your CD, displaying artist, album and song titles or really any other information you'd care to input. This may be conducted from the remote's alphanumeric keypad. You can also enter text via the "Easy Jog" knob by twirling it back and forth. I read through the instructions but, since inputting text on my CDs isn't a priority--hell, it's not even on the screen--I didn't test it. Nonetheless, since you're confined to using the remote's keypad or the "Easy Jog" knob, it seems needlessly cumbersome. Then again, keyboard interfaces are no less cumbersome and would most likely up the cost. A tossup.

Setup. Since my primary objective with this exercise was to record from LPs and cassette tapes, I deployed the CDR 778's analog inputs and outputs through the OmegaStar's newly buffed tape buffers. Since the OmegaStar automatically routes any output signal through the tape buffers, recording from an external analog source was as easy as dumping a blank CDR into the left well, cuing up the LP or cassette tape, and pressing "Record". Well, almost that easy ...

Greed Discursion. For reasons that are monstrously complex, ethically numbing, and better said elsewhere, the home recording industry (gear manufacturers) agreed some time back to pay a royalty to the commercial recording industry (record companies) for each home recording device and each blank recording medium sold to consumers. However, the gear guys also agreed, in order to control just what medium on which they paid royalties, that digital home recording gear would only be compatible with CDRs and CD-RWs specifically encoded for compatibility with digital home recording devices. That way you, the consumer, couldn't use generic recording media and cheat the impoverished record companies out of their royalties. So, generic CDRs and CD-RWs commonly used with PCs are not compatible with the Philips CDR 778 or any other stand-alone, dedicated digital home recording deck. If you try to use one, as I did, the 778 will simply refuse to recognize the disc. You must use music CDRs and music CD-RWs, labeled "CDR Audio" and "CD-RW Audio" respectively, with a digital home recorder. Further, once you've made your clone, the clone cannot be recloned. In other words, you can make as many digital copies from a commercial disc as you're able to stand, but you can't make a digital copy of the clone. However, you can make analog copies of the clone ad infinitum.

At Last! Recording! The first and most obvious exercise was recording from a commercial CD to a CDR. The 778 gives you five recording options, three internal and two external. The internal options are (1) "Record Fast", wherein the CD in the player is recorded onto the CDR/W in the recorder at double speed; (2) "Record Listen", where you hear what you're recording in real time; and (3) "Make CD', in which double speed recording is enabled and the CDR/W is finalized for play in other CD players. The first two results, until the CDR/W is finalized, can only be played on the 778. Finalizing writes an index to the disc, a lot like a boot table on PC media, enabling its compatibility with other CD players. The external options are (1) "Record External Disc", which automatically starts recording when an external digital signal is detected; and (2) "Record External Manual", which requires you to manually press the "Record" button after you've started playing the external source.

A buddy had gifted a few dozen LPs some time ago but wanted his copy of Quicksilver Messenger Service's classic Happy Trails transferred to CD. I could have made an analog copy from the LP, but chose--in willful violation of my own ethical position--to clone my own CD using the 778's "Make CD" option. It couldn't have been easier: target CDR in the left well, source CD in the right well, and record. Less than half an hour later, including the nominal time, +/- two minutes, to finalize, it was done. I put both in the Onkyo changer to detect any audible differences and found none. Scary.

Next I took Let's Active's classic Cypress LP and Afoot EP and recorded them to CDR using the "Record External Manual" option. While inserting the track numbers manually was a pain, each, after a thorough cleaning with the VPI HW16.5, was accurately captured on CD. While all this was going on, my next door neighbor saw what I was up to and told me that he just happened to own a commercial copy of the IRS issue of Cypress and Afoot on one CD. The CD has been out of print for well over a decade, and used copies sell for $75-100 on eBay, so he offered to make a clone. Now, out-of-print material is one of those gray areas in the cloning-for-distribution arena. Let's Active's label IRS, has been out of business for some time, and the Let's Active catalog has not been picked up by another label (like A&M picked up REM's IRS catalog, for instance), so one's options for acquiring the Cypress/Afoot CD are limited. I said, "Yes"--mostly to see how the differences between my analog sourced CD stacked up against the digital clone. Predictably, the clone was sharper, crisper, and lacked the subtle pops and ticks that reminded you that one version was an analog-to-digital recording from an LP and EP. However, I did not get the impression that much, if any, musical information had been lost or dropped in the process.

The daunting task was archiving an old cassette tape on CD. I chose Jesse Winchester's 1979 release Nothing But A Breeze, a personal favorite recorded with Dolby-B noise reduction whose sound quality had noticeably degraded over the years. Not only had the Memorex tape stretched--all non-metallic tapes stretch--but the unequalized sound was muffled in places. It would be quite a chore to make its sound respectable. I played it on my Yamaha K-540 cassette deck with the noise reduction both engaged and disengaged. While the sound was livelier and crisper without the noise reduction, the tape hiss was inordinately prominent. So, I left the noise reduction on and adjusted the OmegaStar's tone controls to back off the bass, boost the treble, and even out the balance and eventually arrived at, for what it was, a sonically acceptable solution. Again, the transfer to CD was flawless, although this time I didn't bother to manually insert the track numbers. Track 1 was Nothing But A Breeze, and Track 2 became Winchester's 3rd Down, 110 To Go from 1976, which required similar tone adjustments. Now, I can continue to play the tape to my heart's content, but by archiving it to CD, at least I've captured it at a point in time before it degrades further, the whole point of the exercise.

Make no mistake, however, neither is even close to acceptable fidelity. In order to achieve the quality sound that I've come to expect, both will need to be purchased on CD. Winchester's Bearsville catalog has been acquired by Stony Plain Records in Edmonton, Alberta, which specializes in Canadian roots recordings (www.stonyplainrecords.com). They carry the remnants of Winchester's Bearsville catalog, including 3rd Down, 110 To Go and Nothing But A Breeze, but when those supplies run out, th-th-that's all, folks!

Conclusion. The Philips CDR 778 is a fine little machine. The quality of recorded CDs is excellent, and the features enough to let you be creative in making your own CDs. While ergonomically gauche in places, at its price point one is willing to forgive those as quibbles. And if you really get stuck, Philips offers a toll-free help line to nurse you through any difficulty so long as you've registered the product. One "tip" the users' manual offers is making recordings, especially compilations and from external sources, on CD-RWs first, so mistakes are not fatal. Finalize the CD-RW--which can be "unfinalized" and subsequently erased--and use "Make CD" to cut the final. The Maxell audio CDRWs I was using claim to be rerecordable up to a thousand times, so this seemed like an attractive option. However, the "Make CD" transfer to CDR crashed at the 20th of 27 tracks, and the CD-RW read as "unfinalized." After repeating the procedure with the same result, I called the help line. The Philips technician was comprehensively methodical, having me relate the steps I took one by one. It turned out that a corrupt CD-RW was the culprit, and a subsequent run with a different CD-RW proved the Philips diagnosis correct.

Given the controversies surrounding home digital recording and the RIAA's campaign to ban home digital recorders altogether, I decided that acting quickly was wiser than waiting. I guess I could still do all this stuff on my PC, but with that pesky hourglass a constant worry and finding the logistics of connecting my rig to the PC a headache of Brobdinagian proportions, it seemed less hassle and more prudent to invest in a dedicated recorder. Even the cost of an outboard CD writer for my laptop, thereby skirting the logistics issues, was roughly equivalent to that of the 778. You may have different priorities and find the PC route more to your liking (e.g., recording to hard disk first then burning the CDR). However, if you decide on a home digital recorder, the Philips CDR 778 is an excellent investment. Recommended. --KE